4:13pm: Big Tech leads the way
U.S. stocks had a strong day on Thursday, wrapping up their third straight session of gains. Investors jumped back into tech stocks, helped along by fresh optimism around U.S.-China trade talks and the potential for Federal Reserve rate cuts.
Here’s how the major indexes finished: Nasdaq led the charge, climbing 2.7% to 17,166, up 458 points. Dow Jones closed at 40,093, up 1.2%, gaining 487 points. The S&P 500 rose 2.0% to 5,485, up 109 points.
Russell 2000, which tracks small-cap stocks, added 1.9% to 1,956, up 37 points.
What’s driving the rally?
Big tech names like Nvidia, Meta, Amazon, Tesla, and Microsoft saw gains between 2.5% and 3.6%, pushing the Nasdaq to the front of the pack. There’s also growing hope that the Fed might cut interest rates soon—Cleveland Fed President Beth Hammack suggested a cut could happen as early as June if the data lines up.
On the trade front, President Trump hinted at possibly easing tariffs on Chinese imports, which gave markets a bit of a lift, even though Chinese officials are still pushing for a full rollback of U.S. tariffs.
Earnings also played a role: Texas Instruments and ServiceNow delivered solid results, boosting confidence in tech. Meanwhile, IBM and Procter & Gamble disappointed investors by missing expectations and cutting their outlooks.
In sectors, tech was the standout, fueling the Nasdaq’s 2.7% jump. Small caps did well too, with the Russell 2000 up 1.9%
Airlines were mixed. Southwest dropped over 3% after cutting its 2025 capacity plans, while American Airlines inched higher despite pulling its financial guidance
Markets are still navigating mixed signals from the Trump administration on both tariffs and monetary policy. While recession fears haven’t been fully priced in, investors are staying cautious and ready to react if the economic outlook worsens.
All eyes are now on upcoming earnings from Alphabet and Intel for more insight into how the tech sector—and the broader market—are holding up amid all this uncertainty.
3:41pm: Stocks on the move
Comcast Corporation beat Q1 earnings estimates but its shares fell as investors focused on the loss of 199,000 broadband subscribers and increasing competitive pressure.
Texas Instruments Inc surged nearly 7% after reporting better-than-expected Q1 earnings and issuing an upbeat Q2 outlook, with EPS of $1.28 topping forecasts.
Spanish Mountain Gold Ltd announced its highest-grade gold intercepts yet at the K-Zone in British Columbia, as part of a nearly complete 10,000-meter drill program.
Southwest Airlines, along with American Airlines and Alaska Air Group, withdrew 2025 profit guidance amid economic uncertainty and weaker-than-expected travel demand.
Newmont Corporation reported Q1 results that beat estimates, driven by stronger gold prices and lower costs, lifting its shares by over 2%.
IBM posted a slight year-over-year revenue increase in Q1, as growth in its software unit helped offset softness in other segments.
Hasbro Inc shares jumped 7.7% after Q1 revenue soared 17%, led by robust performance from its Magic: The Gathering and digital gaming division.
Gold stocks gained as bullion prices rebounded 1.6% after a sharp midweek drop, with spot prices recovering to $3,348.10 an ounce.
3:05pm: Tariff adjustments no olive branch
The US appears to be preparing a partial retreat in its trade war with China, but investors shouldn’t mistake the move for a full-scale thaw in relations between the world’s two largest economies.
That’s the message from Jefferies this week, whose analysts believe talk of reduced tariffs is more tactical than conciliatory.
Markets rallied this week following comments from Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and President Donald Trump suggesting that the US may reduce tariffs on Chinese imports—particularly on products deemed non-strategic. But Jefferies analysts argue that this shift is more about market optics and long-term positioning than a genuine de-escalation.
“This is perceived as an effort by the US to de-escalate the tension with China,” the analysts wrote in a recent note.
“In China, it is perceived (based on media reports) as a sign that Trump’s team has given up on its high-pressure tariff tactics. However, we believe it is premature to be structurally bullish.”
2:23pm: Next up - Alphabet
Google owner Alphabet Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG) is expected to report stable first quarter results, with macroeconomic uncertainty and potential tariff impacts casting a shadow over the outlook for Q2 and Q3.
Q1 earnings per share are expected to increase 7% year-over-year to $2.02, while revenue growth of 11% is expected at $89.18 billion.
Alphabet shares have declined 27% since Q4 earnings, compared to a 13% drop in the S&P 500, with the stock now trading at 10x its next 12 months (NTM) enterprise value (EV)/earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA), an 18% discount to the 10-year average of 12.2x and near the trough multiple of 8.9x.
Shares traded hands at $158 on Thursday afternoon ahead of the release of Alphabet's report
1:45pm: Thursday's headlines
International Business Machines Corp (NYSE:IBM) saw its first quarter sales increase modestly year-over-year as its software unit offset declines in other business lines.
Hasbro Inc posted a sharp first-quarter revenue beat, powered by strong sales from Magic: The Gathering and digital gaming.
Southwest Airlines Co (NYSE:LUV), American Airlines Group Inc (NASDAQ:AAL, ETR:A1G) and Alaska Air Group (NYSE:ALK) have joined other major US airline carriers in pulling their 2025 profit outlook amid economic uncertainty and weaker-than-expected travel demand.
OpenAI is projecting a dramatic jump in annual revenue to $125 billion by 2029, fueled not by its flagship ChatGPT but by a new generation of AI agents, according to internal documents viewed by The Information.
12:50pm: Fed softens tone
Wall Street is firmly in rally mode at midday, with major indexes extending their gains for a third straight session.
The S&P 500 is up 1.7%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq has jumped 2.2%, leading the day’s advance. The Dow is also onthe upswing, rising 1% with broad-based strength among its blue-chip components.
Investor sentiment remains upbeat as trade tensions ease and the Federal Reserve strikes a more dovish tone.
Driving the market’s momentum are several key factors. On the regulatory front, the swearing-in of new SEC Chair Paul Atkins has been met with optimism. NYSE President Lynn Martin emphasized the importance of effective and efficient oversight in maintaining the competitiveness of U.S. markets. Meanwhile, a softer approach to tariffs and more measured commentary from Fed Chair Jerome Powell have helped calm nerves and stoked risk appetite.
Adding to the positive tone is a strong showing from corporate earnings. Despite lingering macroeconomic uncertainty, companies continue to report resilient profits, reinforcing investor confidence. Technology stocks are leading the charge, buoyed by improving sentiment around U.S.-China trade relations and better-than-expected results from key players in the sector. Consumer and industrial stocks within the Dow are also seeing solid gains, helping to round out a broad-based rally across the board.
12:05pm: Home sales lag
The spring homebuying season is off to a sluggish start, according to Wells Fargo.
US existing home sales fell 5.9% in March, bringing the annualized rate down to 4.02 million—the slowest since January. The decline, analysts said, stems largely from persistent affordability issues.
"March's pullback largely reflects ongoing affordability challenges for buyers," the analysts wrote, pointing to the impact of elevated mortgage rates from earlier in the year. Even though financing costs briefly eased in March, rates have since rebounded to nearly 7% amid financial market volatility.
In addition to high borrowing costs, the analysts warned that "affordability continues to be pressured by rising home prices," creating further headwinds for buyers heading into the key spring selling season.
"Although inventories have improved, they remain far below their pre-pandemic level," analysts noted. "As a result, low supply will likely continue to favor positive price appreciation, adding to the affordability challenge."
11:21am: Manufacturing and services showing moderate growth
The latest S&P Global PMIs do not yet signal a troubling slowdown in US economic activity, according to Citi analysts, with both manufacturing and services still showing moderate growth in April.
The S&P Manufacturing PMI rose slightly to 50.7 from 50.2, while the Services PMI fell to 51.4 from 54.4, a larger-than-expected drop but still above the 50-mark that signals expansion.
“The April S&P PMIs do not point to a concerning drop in activity for now,” the analysts wrote, noting that key subindices like output and new orders haven’t shown sharp declines.
They added that lingering pressure on output prices supports the current stance of Federal Reserve officials, who believe they can remain patient with interest rate cuts.
10:32am: Durable goods orders surge
Headline durable goods orders surged 9.2% month-over-month in March, far exceeding the 2% forecast and pointing to significant front-loading of demand.
However, the underlying data painted a more subdued picture. Core durable goods orders were flat at 0%, missing expectations for a 0.3% increase, while core capital goods orders—a key gauge of business investment—rose just 0.1%. Shipments, which tend to lag orders, also showed modest gains, with overall shipments up 0.1% and core capital goods shipments rising 0.2%.
The report suggests that while headline figures were boosted by likely one-off factors, fundamental investment trends remain muted.
"Companies are front running the tariffs, so these durable goods data aren’t something to get excited about," commented Jamie Cox, Managing Partner for Harris Financial Group.
"The good news is that companies are protecting their earnings and margins, and investors will be happy about that."
9.55am: Dow down but Nasdaq on the up
Wall Street was mixed at the open, with the Dow Jones down 0.1% but the S&P 500 up 0.5% and the Nasdaq climbing 0.9%. The small cap Russell 2000 is just above flat.
Hasbro was the top S&P riser, up 14% on its strong Q1 numbers.
Microsoft, Nvidia and Amazon, Broadcom and Tesla were all up over 1% to help lift the Nasdaq and S&P, while Netflix jumped over 2%.
PepsiCo is down 1.3% after it slashed its full-year profit outlook on higher expected supply chain costs stemming from tariffs, elevated macroeconomic volatility and a subdued consumer environment.
McDonald's is the main weight dragging on the Dow, down 1%, ahead of its earnings next week.
8am: Dow Jones and Nasdaq futures in arrears
US stock indices seemed to be heading for a moderately positive start to trading on Thursday, before reports emerged from Japan that dented the market's confidence.
Futures for the S&P 500 were down 0.25% at the time of publication, having been up almost as much the other way an hour earlier.
Dow Jones futures were down 0.5% and those for the Nasdaq were 0.3% in arrears.
The spark that hit markets was a report that Japan intends to push back against any US effort to bring it into an economic bloc aligned against China.
Japan is taking this stance because of the importance of Tokyo’s trade ties with Beijing, according to current and former Japanese government officials cited in a Bloomberg report.
Beijing also said Trump’s claims of ongoing US-China trade talks were "groundless".
Any such suggestion about negotiations is "groundless and has no factual basis", a Chinese commerce ministry spokesman said, after the US President told reporters a deal was week away and that Washington and Beijing were speaking "every day" on tariffs.
The People's Bank of China also said today that its governor met his Bank of Japan counterpart yesterday on the sidelines of the IMF meetings in Washington.
Corporate earnings
Among the company news on Thursday, Hasbro shares were up over 7% premarket as the toymaker reported better profit margins and said new Star Wars toys were on the way as part of a deal with Disney.
Procter & Gamble's were down 1.3% as the consumer products giant’s fiscal third-quarter revenue missed Street estimates and it lowered its guidance.
Comcast was up almost 1% as it beat the Street on first-quarter profit but continued to lose broadband subscribers.
PepsiCo was little moved as the beverage and snack maker missed on quarterly earnings and cut its full-year outlook due to the negative impacts of tariffs.
Where markets are after yesterday
A day earlier, the S&P had added 88 points, or 1.7%, to close at 5,376, while the Dow rose 420 points, or 1.1%, to finish at 39,607 and the tech-heavy Nasdaq led the charge with a 2.5% jump to 16,708.
This followed President Trump and his Treasury Secretary walking back on tariffs, leading to the S&P posting consecutive gains of above 1% for the first time since November 6, the day after the election, paring back more than half of its losses since the closing low on April 8.
However, the S&P is still down 5.2% since the April 2 'liberation day' announcement.
"Volatility remains high," said Deutsche Bank analyst Jim Reid, "as investors struggled to gauge just how much tariff reversal was likely, with Bessent saying there was no unilateral offer to cut tariffs on China. So we’re not quite out of the woods yet."
Reid adds: "We’ll have to see what happens from here, but a large part of the optimism has come about because investors think the US administration will relent more."
A WSJ report yesterday suggested the China tariffs could be slashed lower and floated the idea of a tiered approach, which was followed by a Financial Times report that the US administration was planning to exempt car parts from some of the most onerous tariffs, avoiding stacking 20% China fentanyl and 25% steel and aluminium levies on top of the 25% auto tariffs.
This tariff relief led to a further flattening of the Treasury yield curve, said Reid, with the 10yr and the 30yr Treasury yields down, while the 2yr yield rose to its highest since April 11 as investors dialed back prospects for near-term Fed cuts.
"A rate cut was 57% priced by the June meeting as of yesterday’s close, down from 78% on Monday."